54 Mr. W. Thompson on the Birds of Ireland. 



morsel as will barely support life, and will occasionally allow them- 

 selves to be lifted off their eggs, and when placed on again, continue 

 to sit as intently as if they had not been disturbed. The filling up 

 of the aperture is not in itself a singular proceeding on the part of 

 the martin * ; but on this occasion, when the assistance of their 

 neighbours was called in, would almost seem to be intended as an 

 act of retributive justice on the sparrow. Their building against the 

 side of the old nest is quite a common occurrence. 



I have heard the call of this species exerted to the no little an- 

 noyance of persons engaged in the cruel task of pulling down their 

 nests, when the sufferers become as vociferous as their " weak voices " 

 will permit, and thereby attract their neighbours from all quarters, 

 who make common cause with them, each and all endeavouring to 

 deter the spoiler from his work of destruction, " occasionally flying 

 boldly and at the risk of their lives within reach of his outstretched 

 hand ; and again, with all the eloquence they can master, seeming 

 most piteously to claim the edifice as theirs f." Martins are gene- 

 rally silent birds, but when congregated for migration their call is 

 often almost incessantly uttered. 



This species generally rears two broods during its sojourn. So 

 late as the 23rd of September several old birds were observed to fly 

 so repeatedly to their nests, that I had no doubt they at the time 

 contained young J. The second brood is generally reared in the 

 same nest as the first, but it is probable that when the nest is not 

 found suitable for the purpose, a second erection is undertaken, as 

 on the 17th of July I remarked seven nests in front of a house, 

 which in the month of October contained nine. 



Notes in illustration of Mr. White's remark (' Hist, of Selborne,' 

 letter 18), that the young swallows u at once associate with the first 

 broods of the house martins, and with them congregate, clustering 

 on sunny roofs, towers, and trees," need not be offered ; but it may 



* Mr. Blackwall, in his ' Researches in Zoology,' states that a pair of 

 martins, on returning in the spring to the nest of the preceding year, en- 

 deavoured to dislodge the bodies of their young, which had been deserted ; 

 but finding their efforts in vain, " closed up the aperture with clay, thus 

 converting the nest into a sepulchre." 



f Audubon (Ann. of Lye, vol. i. p. 165) mentions a similar trait in the 

 history of an American species, the Hirundo fulva, in the following words : 

 — " The energy with which they defended their nests was truly astonishing. 

 Although I had taken precaution to visit their nests at sunset, when I had 

 supposed they would all have been on the sycamores, yet a single female 

 happened to be sitting, and she gave the alarm, which immediately called 

 out the whole tribe. They snapped at my hat, my body, and my legs, passed 

 between me and the nests within an inch of my face, twittering their rage 

 and sorrow. They continued their attacks as I descended, and accompanied 

 me some distance." 



J In a note contributed to Mr. Bennett's edition of White's ' Selborne,' 

 p. 61, a particular instance is detailed of a pair of martins remaining behind 

 for the purpose of bringing their progeny to adolescence, instead of migra- 

 ting with the great body of their companions. That the young are often 

 deserted at such times by their parents, has been fully proved by Mr. Black- 

 wall. 



